December 2: "One star is shining brighter than the rest" (from Book girl fan)


Sherlock Holmes had known since the first week of primary school that he was the most intelligent student in his class. He suspected this might be the case, given his interactions with other boys his age before starting school, but having spent so much time with his brother Mycroft, he thought that perhaps he was simply average.

And so when it came time to submit a three page short story to his teacher, Sherlock knew he would have the best story in his entire class. Usually he was content just knowing he was the best, but this time, there was a special prize. Whoever wrote the story that the teacher liked the best would see their work published on the back page of the local newspaper, The Northern Star. It took him a while to decide what to write about, but he settled on a story about pirates. He had just read a book about pirates, and so felt well prepared to write about them. The words flowed easily, and with pride, he set the story on his teacher's desk that Thursday morning.

When Friday came, he could barely contain his excitement. Today was the day he would officially begin his journey as a published author!

"Now, many of you submitted very fascinating and high-quality stories," Mrs Fredrick began. "but the newspaper only has room to print one. So, class, let's all give a warm round of applause to John Watson."

Sherlock gaped, too appalled to bother joining in with the polite clapping of his classmates. Why, Watson was just an average boy, apart from being scolded more often than average for staring out the window during lectures. How on earth could he have been chosen?

When the other students filed out of the classroom at lunchtime, Sherlock confronted his teacher. "With all due respect, Mrs Fredrick," he said, "I don't understand why you picked Watson's story over mine. Did you just want to give another student a chance to be the best at something?"

Mrs Fredrick chuckled. "No, Sherlock. Your story was very interesting, and I learned a lot about pirates. But the truth is, there wasn't actually very much story. What I mean by that is, quite a lot of it was just information about pirates. It would make for a good report, but it wasn't what I was looking for when I asked for a short story."

Sherlock balked internally. "Isn't the point of reading to learn?"

"Only one of the points." She smiled. "You are a very bright student, Sherlock, but when it comes to telling stories, in this classroom, John shines the brightest. You should read his story when it runs in the paper; I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

Indeed, Sherlock thought with an internal scoff. He would read it— he always read the paper in its entirety— but he would not be impressed. Of that he was certain.


A/N: Because who doesn't like schoolboy AU's :)